Teens Test Their Constitutional Knowledge at Ohio Statehouse
Findlay High School students captured first place in the We the People state competition and will represent Ohio at the national competition.
Testing their knowledge of the U.S. and Ohio constitutions, high school students from across the state recently competed in the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution state competition at the Ohio Statehouse.
More than 150 students from seven schools participated in the final competition – simulated congressional hearings before a three-judge panel – showing their understanding of American constitutional democracy and the relevance of the historic documents to their lives.
This year’s winner, Findlay High School, will represent Ohio in the We the People National Finals to be held this April in the Washington, D.C. area. Second place went to St. Francis DeSales from Columbus. West Carrollton High School in Montgomery County and Van Wert High School in Van Wert County tied for third place.
This year’s competition featured a question specifically about the Ohio Constitution. A team of three students from West Carrollton earned the Ohio Constitutional Scholar Award for their response to the question.
“The decision to add an Ohio Constitution question to each unit came as part of OCLRE’s ongoing attempt to better connect We the People to Ohio students through the Ohio state standards,” said Danielle Rains, We the People program coordinator. “We work closely with an advisory group of teachers who encouraged us to make changes that would help them meet the standards for American Government in Ohio, as well as helping their students learn more about how our state government and state constitution function.”
Other participating schools in the state finals included: Archbold High School (Fulton County), Ravenna High School (Portage County), and Sycamore High School (Hamilton County).
We the People is a program of the OCLRE, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization whose goal is to improve society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of the U.S. democratic system. OCLRE is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Ohio State Bar Association, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation.